Allen knows Raiders QB, but he’s not telling

Filed for print with additional material . . .
Following a 22-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks to close out the preseason, Raiders coach Dennis Allen was asked point blank if he knew who his starting quarterback would be when the regular season begins.
“I’m not telling you, but yes,’’ Allen said.

An anxious fan base will have to wait and see whether Terrelle Pryor or Matt Flynn will be under center when the Raiders play against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 8.

Based on how things went when Pryor subbed for a sore-armed Matt Flynn Thursday night before 67,341 fans at CenturyLink Field, it could go either way.

The Raiders finished the preseason 1-3 and Allen will turn his attention to trimming 22 players form the roster to get to the NFL limit of 53 by Saturday. Seattle is 4-0.

Pryor showed the running skills that make him such an intriguing option but struggled with his passing in a first-half performance which was limited to 19 snaps because Seattle moved at will against the Raiders first- and second-team defense.

With 45 yards rushing on three carries, including a 25-yard burst around right end and a 17-yard bootleg to the left, Pryor helped set up Justin Medlock for field goals of 45 and 37yards.

But when it came to pass, Pryor was 3 of 8 for 31 yards, an interception on an under-thrown deep ball to Jacoby Ford, and a miniscule 9.9 passer rating. Late in the half, when the Raiders took over with 3:52 to play, they went 61 yards without completing a pass _ not exactly a pro-style passing attack.

Allen thought the lack of rhythm in the passing game was at least in part due to having the ball for only 19 plays. Pryor was critical of himself over the interception, but otherwise thought he did OK.

The Raiders sat out center Stefen Wisniewski and right tackle Khalif Barnes, in addition to running back Darren McFadden.

“I didn’t have some of my guys, guys I was working with all week,’’ Pryor said. “I’ll get better. It’s crunch time now.’’

Allen said he will withhold an announcement of the quarterback “until the appropriate time’’, and when asked if he might wait until the season opener, said, “We’ll see.’’

Flynn, Allen said, is expected to be back at practice and ready to play Monday after resting his arm.

Neither quarterback was interested in lobbying for the job.

“I don’t really want to get into that,’’ Pryor said. It’s going to be coach’s call and whatever he thinks is best for the team. It’s all about the team, and if it’s me leading, I’ll lead to the best of my ability and we’ll get things done. If it’s Matt leading, then we’ll get things done too and I’ll support him.’’

Allen may know who the quarterback is, but Flynn said he had no idea and added, “I don’t know. We’ll wait and see. I can only control what I do.’’

Allen was able to find silver linings among the black clouds that found the Raiders scoring only 16 points in the first halves of the last three preseason games.

Most notably, Seattle had only 34 yards rushing on 17 first-half carries.

“We wanted to be a physical team in this game and really I thought we were,’’ Allen said. “ I thought our guys played with effort, I thought our guys ran around. We didn’t always play as smart as we needed to play.’’

Another bright spot was left tackle Menelik Watson, playing his first game at the position after only one padded practice. The second-round pick incurred no penalties and had no glaring mistakes.

“The first thing that comes to mind is I’ve got to get better,’’ Watson said. “There’s a few things comfort wise with the run game, that I got more reps at. I think I did a good job mostly just concentrating on the assignment and what I’ve got to do.’’

— Seattle starting quarterback Russell Wilson was 3 of 3 for 68 yards and a touchdown and Robert Hauschka kicked five field goals to account for Seattle’s scoring.

The Raiders were particularly vulnerable on rollouts and bootlegs with receivers breaking free.

— Running back Rashad Jennings had 53 yards on six carries including bursts of 9 and 32 yards on Oakland’s field goal drive before the half.

—- Wide receiver Brice Butler did not make the trip because of a hamstring injury and Sio Moore, bothered by a toe injury of late, also did not play.

— Mike Brisiel, who has struggled with his knee of late, played as the second-team right guard in the second half behind starter Lucas Nix.

— Rookie defensive end David Bass, a seventh-round draft pick, got good pressure and had one sack erased by a defensive holding penalty by linebacker Kaelin Burnett.

— It was the eighth consecutive year the Raiders have ended the preseason against the Seahawks. Seattle has won seven times, with the only Raiders win coming 23-16 in the only game played between the two teams in Oakland in 2010.

— Pryor on how he’s adjusting to the differences between college and pro football): “Accuracy. Timing with receivers. I think I’ve definitely gotten better with that. Making strides. Today I threw one to Rod (Streater), I believe, and he hadn’t come out of his break yet.”

— Flynn on if line struggles and his mobility hurt his chances to be the starter: “There are a lot of things we have been cleaning up protection-wise. A lot of it is miscommunications and things we need to get cleaned up.”

How Flynn would assess the preseason: “I felt there were a lot of good things. I don’t judge the preseason by just what happened in some of the games. It’s about seeing where you are as a player and a football team and I think overall things went well. We would have liked to put some better stuff on film game-wise but that’s what it’s for.”

— Chris Kluwe had a line-drive 44-yard punt that Walter Thurmond returned up the middle for 28 yards, but later had a 48-yard punt with good hangtime. Marquette King hit a 52-yard punt with a net of 41 on his lone punt.

Kluwe was the holder on Medlock’s 45-yard field goal, and King was the holder when Medlock connected from 37. Medlock was subbing for Sebastian Janikowski, who sat out the game with a calf injury.

“I think it’s been a good competition. I think both of those guys have done some good things and we’ll let you know at the appropriate time who we decide to go with,” Allen said.

— Allen said he planned all along not to play not to play Wisniewski, Barnes and McFadden. Free safety Charles Woodson sat out because he was ill.

— Lamarr Houston and Christo Bilukidi had sacks for the Raiders, who had their best penetration of the preseason from their defensive front. Rookie seventh-round pick David Bass had a sack erased on a penalty.

“This was the first time this preseason we were able to get our starting defensive line all together and I thought we did a nice job of stopping the run and really there was a couple of times where were able to get to the quarterback too and that was good to see,” Allen said.

–Not much to choose from in the battle for third quarterback between Matt McGloin (5 of 7 for 41 yards, zero points) and Tyler Wilson (8 of 12, 65 yards, zero points).

One of the more intriguing cuts the Raiders will make. McGloin had the better training camp and preseason, but was an undrafted free agent. Wilson was a fourth-round draft pick. Allen has stressed competition, but general manager Reggie McKenzie could well take that position that in projecting the players, Wilson will be the better player down the road.

These are the traits of a internet wanna be gangster troll trying desperately for some CHAT CRED!

Elraidmanhattan fits the bill guys be very afraid if him and his chat cred!

GhostTooThePost

the famous dr robert Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Sounds to me like missdick likely said about what he says here. So did I.
================
LMFAO.
Now I have RacistCowardSlob hoping to side with Nancy.

Oh yeah, biches, when I say jump, you just do rock/paper/scissors to see who gets to ask “how high”.

RacistCowardSlob: “They like me. I made them laugh.”
Yeah, AT YOU.

Nancy: “I reamed them. That had nothing in reply, so I made my last comment, and left.”
Nancy: “I talked uninterrupted and hung up.”

Yes, I too, am laughing AT YOU.

Now both of you celebrate the fact you did what 10’s of thousands do every day, called in a talk show that is BEGGING people to call.

Bye ladies.

the famous dr robert

Not sure how a guy who has such horrendous passing numbers and LOOKS horrible passing, can be “our best chance to win”.

Saying it doesnt make it true.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Dont let the Qb issue take away from the problem which is DEFENSE.

This defense will not make the other teams PUNT this season. PERIOD.

the famous dr robert

Lol. Sorry guys. “My biggest fan” is a bit delirious. Seems his life revolves around me.

Just say my name b1tch.

DJ Johnny

LA to TheBay Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 11:50 am
Has ANY other successful QB struggled for 3 seasons simply completing passes?

—-

Tavaris Jackson looked pretty sharp last night
—
ANY qb can look good against our defense and our team has not changed in 3yr’s.

Caleb freaking Hanie (his actual middle name I think) almost beat us. He hail mary-d a toss form his own endzone that was caught by Johnnie Knox and made some other good passes. Tebow hit Decker on a slant route for a TD and threw for another.

That was a different team right? Thing is for whatever reason the same problems that plagued us 2-3 yrs ago STILL PLAGUE US today.

-Receivers drop key passes.
-3rd down..defense makes a stop. WAIT a second. Not so fast. There’s a flag on the play that keeps the drive alive and they eventually score. How long has THAT been going on?

“Daniel Jermiah says Flynn is not NFL material even.. weak arm.. nothing to get excited about

Says pryor gives the Raiders the best chance to win”

Yeah I worship him too and cling to his every word like its biblical! Why not let him pork your wife while your licking his backside?

Purvisman/Intrepid/Eternal Optimist

Zymurge Says:
McGloin has more TDs than either QB ahead of him. His TD:Int ratio is 2:3. Both Pryor and Flynn are 1:2, which for the math challenged is worse.
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What do you mean? 1 is 50% of 2,and 3 is 50% more than 2. Isn’t that the same?
We need JFB!

Silverandblack666 Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Elraidmanhattan is back to show us how gangster he is!

He knows Karate

He drive a Ferrari

He dates a Super Model

He is a Wall Street executive

He is 6 foot 3 and knows MMA

He has a 9 inch cock

These are the traits of a internet wanna be gangster troll trying desperately for some CHAT CRED!

Elraidmanhattan fits the bill guys be very afraid if him and his chat cred!
**********

I thought you were describing Tom Brady, my hero. Wall Street and Manhattan just doesn’t fit though. 🙁 Oh, well. I was so excited to have Tom on the blog.

raideralex99

Silverandblack666 Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
“I’m just saying…someone mentioned to me that our o-line is the main problem and our receivers sucked…
well, Palmer did throw for 4ooo yards last year despite all of that! So was the problem the QB?”

I know you cant have it both ways right!!

Carson Palmer was the lone bright spot on this team last year.

When Reggie came in he dismantled the #5 running game by forcing the zone blocking Knapp on us. That was our ONE strength!!

Next year we have a #9 passing game with Palmer he ships Palmer out of town. It was our ONE strength!

Twice Reggie has made us start over on offense!

TWICE!!!
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Well said and 100 % correct. Reggie should have fixed the defence in his 2 years instead of trying to put his stamp on the team. Now the Raiders have a bottom 5 offence and defence.

Tavaris Jackson looked pretty sharp last night
—
ANY qb can look good against our defense
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yep, the worst thing for our offense is to practice against our defense. so unrealistic to a nfl defense. i

“I thought you were describing Tom Brady, my hero. Wall Street and Manhattan just doesn’t fit though. 🙁 Oh, well. I was so excited to have Tom on the blog.”

Trying to keep up with you!

You sarcastic mofo!

raideralex99

If Pryor played against the Raiders defence he would look like a pro … If Flynn played against the Raiders defence he would look like a HOFer.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

The Raiders ship ( entire ORG/ TEAM) Is taking on water right now at an alarming rate, with the season fast approaching and no defense.. this ship which a few weeks ago was optomistic..is now sinking.

DA needs to stop the leaking

RaiderRetribution

No cuts worth picking up so far.

M. Watson was a steal in the 2nd round. He will be our starting LT.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Funny how other teams offense was just vanilla too. Russell would have hung out 30 points in a matter of minutes if it was a real game.

BEars vanilla offense had 24-0 before they called the dogs off

elraidmanhattan

Silver sorry i don’t fit the gangsta cred, just have the size and the intellect none of the rest, sorry to disappoint

raideralex99

Tebow through two 4th quarter TDs last night … I guess he should start instead of Brady.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Russell Wilson new generation of Qb.. better then KAEP IMO.. better then RG3 IMO.. and I’d take him over LUCK

Purvisman/Intrepid/Eternal Optimist

Silverandblack666 Says:
Elraidmanhattan is back to show us how gangster he is!…
.
.
.
.
…Elraidmanhattan fits the bill guys be very afraid if him and his chat cred!
================================================

Where’d I put that llama post?

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Tebow through two 4th quarter TDs last night … I guess he should start instead of Brady.

Pretty special kid,” House says of Pryor. “The awesome thing about him is that he made adjustments almost immediately. He was hungry. He was willing to give what we offered a shot. The combination of his willingness to embrace the science and make it a little bit better for him physically and mechanically turned into some positive feedback real quick.”
———–

I will take the word of House over Alex7, Zymurge, and Doc Slob.

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

Does flynn even want to play behind this line..that is the question.. or does he just want to collect the check?

Deep down FLYNN might be hoping DA picks PRYOR to start

elraidmanhattan

Wow, i feel so disillusioned from you sandb ripping my knowledge, tears are forming in my eyes. Btw i just went to the bathroom what i released knows more about football then you know moron

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit

432.DJ Johnny Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 10:54 am
It has to be Pryor. I don’t see any other option. He is the one guy who causes concern for a defense. Anybody worried what Flynn will do to them?

I don’t know who else can make any plays. Reece? He needs someone to throw it to him and to create situations where they don’t stack the line and dare us to throw it. Our QB needs to make them pay for that or DMAC is going nowhere.

Pryor at least causes defenses to hesitate and account for him which can open an opportunity to hit someone wide open.

Pryor MUST make people pay with his arm if we have any hope of even winning a couple games.

———————-

everyone who is not trolling, knows what you said is true. Thats why ever paid profesional is saying PRYOR should be the starter and its no question.

Raider Dawg

Eastoaklandraider Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Pretty special kid,” House says of Pryor. “The awesome thing about him is that he made adjustments almost immediately. He was hungry. He was willing to give what we offered a shot. The combination of his willingness to embrace the science and make it a little bit better for him physically and mechanically turned into some positive feedback real quick.”
———–

I will take the word of House over Alex7, Zymurge, and Doc Slob.
***************************

Certainly. But Prior does pay the guy, so you’ll need to take a lot of proverbial salt with that.

eastoaklandraider

The run D looked light years better than it did all pre season, maybe DA can pull off a decent after all, I give credit where its due unlike some of you.

I hate to be redundant this year is a wash, as a result let pryor play and get the experience, it is not like flynn will be dynamic and lead the team to the playoffs…please stop the insanity

Raider Dawg

Raideraholic (AKAHairyBush) Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Quick quiz- how many 3 win season have the Raiders had all time?

Don’t cheat!

1st one to get it right wins a Lionel Washington car decal.

And go!
**********************

I don’t remember any, but my memory isn’t so good. A 2-win and some 4 -win seasons. Now I’m gonna go cheat.

the famous dr robert

Elraidmanhattan Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Silver sorry i don’t fit the gangsta cred, just have the size and the intellect none of the rest, sorry to disappoint
********
Did u just brag about having the intellect of a gangster?

Well, we should do three wins sometime, but let’s do 14, 15 and 16 first.

raideralex99

RaidersAllday_LtsGeTit Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Russell Wilson new generation of Qb.. better then KAEP IMO.. better then RG3 IMO.. and I’d take him over LUCK
—————————————————————————————-
It’s only one year lets wait awhile before you crown him king. He is good but one season common man.
Seattle’s defence will be able to stop the read option along with the other good defences so it will be interesting how these new generation QBs adjust to it.

the famous dr robert

Here’s what’s wrong with the “let Pryor play and see what happens” mentality.

U have to decide if he could EVER be a good qb.

The answer is no. No point in barking up that tree.

McGloin and Wilson are better passers already. (Proven by their stats)

Raideralex99 Says:
August 30th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Pryor has talent no question but like the good doctor said … the QB position is not it.
This is Pryors third season yet the 2 rookie QBs in camp completed more passes.
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